historicafandomcom-20200222-history
Hulegu Khan
Hulegu Khan (1218-22 April 1265) was the Khan of the Ilkhanate from 1256 to 1265, succeeding Tolui Khan and preceding Teguder Khan. Hulegu was one of the most famous rulers of the Mongol Empire, becoming exalted among men for his conquest of the Middle East, Syria, and Azerbaijan, his transformation of the Ilkhanate from a Tengri Mongol state to an Orthodox Christian empire, and his holding of feasts and games. His most famous act was undoubtedly the 1258 Sack of Baghdad, in which 800,000-2,000,000 people were killed. Biography Hulegu was born in 1218, the son of Tolui and the grandson of Genghis Khan. He was a member of the Tengri Mongol Borjigin dynasty. In 1251, Hulegu's brother Mongke Khan became the new Khagan of the Mongol Empire, and in 1255 Mongke gave Hulegu a massive army to destroy the remaining Muslim states in southwest Asia. Hulegu followed Mongke's instructions to treat those who submitted kindly and to utterly destroy those who did not submit. Hulegu captured Alamut in 1257, exterminating the violent Hashshashin cult across Persia. He proceeded to conquer the Abbasid Caliphate, and in 1258 his army sacked the Abbasid capital of Baghdad, massacring as many as 2,000,000 Muslims over the course of three months and sparing only the Christians, whom the Mongols saw as allies. Hulegu's armies conquered much of Mesopotamia, and as of 1260 the new "Ilkhanate" ruled by Hulegu was now in control of lands from Uzbekistan and Pakistan in the east to Turkey and eastern Syria in the west. Hulegu married Oghul, a lowborn Mongol woman, in 1260, and he repaired lost prestige by paying for the wedding himself. Hulegu Khan campaigned in Syria in 1260 against the Qutuzid Sultanate of Egypt, following Caliph al-Mustansir II's declaration of a jihad against Hulegu Khan. Hulegu led an army of almost 50,000 Mongol troops against the Qutuzids and defeated the Mamelukes at the Battle of Nukhaib on 20 May 1260. Hulegu Khan and his army seized parts of Jordan before advancing into southern Syria. Meanwhile, his brother Arig Bokha led armies in northern Syria and sacked Damascus on 28 July, while Hulegu took over Amman and Salt by January 1261. On 19 August 1261, after the Battle of Salkhard, the Mongols gained control of all of Syria with the exception of Druz and Zarqa. At the same time as the campaign in Syria, Hulegu welcomed Muslim and Christian clerics into the Ilkhanate, allowing them to proselytize several people. When Venetian explorers Niccolo Polo, Maffeo Polo, and Niccolo's young son Marco Polo headed eastwards in hopes of meeting the Great Khan, Hulegu gave them directions as well as an armed escort, gaining prestige from this venture. He encouraged bishops to teach him more about Jesus, finding an interest in Christianity. Hulegu himself converted to Orthodox Christianity on 10 August 1260 after being enlightened by Bishop Komitas of Prusa, and this caused a brief lull in his campaign, as he turned the invasion casus belli into a holy war. Hulegu's victories against the Muslims of the Abbasid Caliphate in their jihad and the Qutuzids of Egypt in his conquest of Damascus gave him the status of an Orthodox warrior king, and Hulegu Christianized the Ilkhanate. In the aftermath of the conquest of Syria, he appointed Mongol bishops to replace Muslim timariots and imams, and he demanded the religious conversion of many of his nobles, many of whom adhered to Nestorian Christianity, Tengrism, and a few Muslims. Hulegu minimized the amount of non-Christian nobles within his realm and increased the amount of Orthodoxes, although his youngest son Teguder remained a Nestorian. Hulegu sought to be exalted among men, and in 1263 he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He also held a great feast, a grand tournament, and a nerge with his vassals in 1263-1264, increasing his prestige. He created the High Chiefdom of Armenia and High Chiefdom of Syria, which led to his prestige skyrocketing and him achieving his goal of being remembered in history. He died on 22 April 1265 after killing his archenemy High Chief al-Muwahhid Abdallah Taqi al-Din of Edessa by poisoning, with Hulegu dying peacefully in his sleep. His son Teguder Khan succeeded him as khan, although he was a Nestorian and the youngest son. Children Hulegu Khan married Khatun Oghul of the Ilkhanate in 1260, and never had any concubines, an option that was taken away when he converted to Orthodox Christianity. He had several children before then, and with her: *Chief Abaga of Rayy (1234-) *High Chief Taragai of Esfahan (1236-) *Prince Hyaxemet of the Ilkhanate (1238-) *Chief Teguder of Kirkuk (1239-) Category:Kings Category:Mongols Category:Ilkhanids Category:Generals Category:Mongol khans Category:Ilkhanid khans Category:Mongol generals Category:1218 births Category:1265 deaths Category:Tengris Category:Orthodox Christians Category:Converts to Orthodoxy from Sunni Islam